By Mark A. Taylor
We had a party in the CHRISTIAN STANDARD office last week, and we took some pictures to share with visitors to our website.
Peter Esposito, president (left), and I posed with our framed copy of the very first Christian Standard.
The occasion, as all our Facebook friends have already seen, was the 150th anniversary of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s first issue, April 7, 1866. Peter Esposito, president of Christian Standard Media (formerly Standard Publishing) brought bagels and a birthday cake, and the whole office enjoyed the refreshments from a table displaying our framed copy of that very first edition.
While each of our staff members has been helping produce CHRISTIAN STANDARD for several years, our tenures are short compared with the 150-year history of the magazine. We were glad to get good wishes, and proud of what the magazine has become in our years of service, but we know we stand on the shoulders of others whose service and vision through the decades kept CHRISTIAN STANDARD central in the lives of the churches and leaders it serves.
I posted these pictures on my personal Facebook page, too, and it was gratifying to see how many of my Facebook friends are also apparently friends of the magazine. Based on the number of “likes” to my posts, many out there are glad for the magazine”s history and continued contribution.
Diane Jones-Dunham, magazine production coordinator, Jim Nieman, managing editor, and I prepared to cut the birthday cake.
I couldn”t help thinking about human interest reports often posted picturing some centenarian celebrating her 100th or higher birthday. Good for her, we think, without wondering much about what she”ll be doing next week or accomplishing next year.
But those wishing CHRISTIAN STANDARD well should do so with a different attitude. We”re glad we”ve reached this milestone, but our eyes are firmly on the future, even as we celebrate a noteworthy past.
That was the whole thrust of our April anniversary issue, whose cover theme was “150 Years . . . and Tomorrow.” You can get your own copy of this historic issue in print or for your device.
For the print issue, send us a check for $4.00, made payable to Christian Standard Media, and we”ll mail you a copy. (Write us at 8805 Governor”s Hill Drive, Suite 400, Cincinnati, OH 45249.)
For a digital version, download our free app, and get the April issue for your phone or tablet for only $2.99. (Or you may decide just to subscribe for a whole year. People love seeing the magazine”s digital editions.) We”re posting several articles from the issue at our site this month, but there”s even more in the print and digital editions.
“Even more” is a good phrase to summarize our attitude about the future. Christian churches have done great things in recent decades, but we believe the best is yet to be. Here at CHRISTIAN STANDARD, we”re looking forward to our part in what God has in store for the weeks and years ahead.
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